News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
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Some Hospitals and Health Systems Get Bigger in Bid to Increase Efficiency and Profit Margins

Meanwhile, financial pressures mean smaller budgets for hospital laboratories

When it comes to multi-hospital health systems, the biggest are getting bigger. But many health systems are not covering their costs. These were the findings from a recent annual survey of health systems by Modern Healthcare magazine. It confirms what pathologists and clinical laboratory directors see in many regional markets.

As we wrote in Dark Daily on June 29, three factors are driving this growth trend: federal healthcare reform, mandated spending on health information technology (HIT), and the economic contraction from 2007 to 2009 that pushed smaller hospitals to merge with larger health systems. This is the analysis reported by Modern Healthcare. (See Dark Daily, Modern Healthcare’sTop 10 Largest Health System Rankings also Reveal Nation’s Largest Hospital-Based Laboratories, June 29, 2011.)

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United Kingdom’s National Health Service Expands its Largest Public/Private Clinical Pathology Laboratory Joint Venture

GSTS Pathology Inks Pathology Testing Services Pact with KingsPath in London

In the United Kingdom, clinical pathology laboratories are facing major changes in ownership, operation, and how they are funded. One very visible sign of these coming changes is the latest expansion in the nation’s largest public/private pathology testing joint venture that took effect just two weeks ago.

On September 24, Serco Group, plc, announced that KingsPath, the pathology service arm of the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, was entering a pathology joint venture with GSTS Pathology. This partnership became effective on October 1.

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Thermo Fisher Offers $6 Billion to Acquire Millipore

Both companies are important suppliers to clinical laboratories and research labs

In recent days, news surfaced that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) was offering $6 billion to acquire Millipore Corporation (NYSE:MIL). Neither company has confirmed the offer, but yesterday Millipore issued a statement that its Directors were “evaluating strategic options.”

Should Thermo Fisher acquire Millipore, or should Millipore find another buyer, it will mean the same thing: more consolidation among vendors who are major suppliers for clinical pathology laboratories. This would continue a global consolidation trend among clinical laboratory suppliers and in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers that reaches back more than a decade and a half.

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